Last year, Peyton Manning finally added the hardware to the hard stats, as the Indianapolis Colts won the Super Bowl in rainy Miami. A different kind of reign is what the Colts have had in the South, a monsoon is more like it. The question is now, what have the Jacksonville Jaguars, Houston Texans, and Tennessee Titans done to catch up?
From bottom to top, the AFC South in the 2007-08 season:
Houston Texans: David Carr was hit more often than Yahoo the last five seasons, so obviously it was all his fault the Texans offense was horrible. No, it couldn't have been because of the offensive line, or the fact that they passed on Reggie Bush for DE Mario Williams, it was Carr's fault. Now we'll see for sure, as the Texans traded the ranch to Atlanta for Matt Schaub, who still doesn't have a line in front of him and still not much help at running back, despite the signing of Ahman Green. Their defense is good, now slightly better with Amobi Okoye, a great first-round draft pick, but not good enough to carry the offense, and Houston's hopes, to the playoffs. Prediction: 6-10, fourth place
Tennessee Titans: Vince Young is very good, no doubt, but this is his show from the jump this year, and he's going to have to prove that this is not going to be Atlanta North, that he has what Michael Vick doesn't seem to, the ability to consistently throw the ball. Oh, by the way, he's going to have to do it without top receiver Drew Bennett, who left for St. Louis. And without Travis Henry at running back. And without known commodities replacing either one. And with little support from what was last year the worst defense by yardage in the NFL. VY is good, but is he Superman? Prediction: 7-9, third place
Jacksonville Jaguars: Head coach Jack Del Rio basically cleaned house on his coaching staff, believing his Jaguars to be better than the 8-8 they were last year. This year will reveal if he was a prophet or not, since the team is largely unchanged from last year. They'll still have quarterback questions between Byron Leftwich and David Garrard, not a good thing, since neither may be the long or short term answer. They'll still have the number-two defense, a very good thing. They'll have RB Maurice Jones-Drew and WR Matt Jones, two positives, if they can repeat their performances of last season. All in all, though, they stood pat when they would've been better served to make some noise on the roster instead of in the press box. Prediction: 9-7, second place
Indianapolis Colts: The only real question mark in Indianapolis, as it usually is, is the defense. Only this time the question has changed, from “Where is it?” to “Which one will show up?” Will it be the one that got shredded like cheese against the run last regular season? Or will it be the one that shut down Larry Johnson and Jamal Lewis, and carried the Colts to the Super Bowl title in the playoffs? They resigned Dwight Freeney (great), but let Kato June become a Buccaneer (not so hot) and made no other real moves, so the Colts are gambling that the defense woke up. The offense...well, they've still got Manning, Joseph Addai, Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne, Dallas Clark. They're more than OK. Prediction: 13-3, division champion.
So, the pieces are in place for the Colts to repeat as division champion. Now the bigger question is, will they repeat as world champion? Stay tuned!
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